Problems with 2006 Toyota Prius EXTERIOR LIGHTING

On my toyota prius 2006, the passenger side headlight intermittently goes out for a period of time. sometimes for an extended period, and sometimes for a short period. the dealership can't find a problem with the headlamp, because,even leaving the lights on all day, the light won't shut off. i can't determine the pattern for the light shutting off, and i often only know about the problem when someone alerts me to a dark headlight. this is a major safety issue because of the intermittent nature, and inability to detect the outage. *tr

2006 toyota prius with the hid headlights. the headlights randomly turn off. at first i thought i was seeing other things, like neighboring cars switching in and out of lanes, causing the amount of light to diminish. so far, it is either one or the other headlight, not both simultaneously. through the random process, which would be initiated each time the lights are turned on, it is only a matter of "time" before both lights extinguish at the wrong time, at highway speeds. *tr

Every couple of weeks, the front passenger side headlight goes out on my 2006 prius. sometimes both lights go out. this is terrifying at night and is a serious safety hazard. i found many similar complaints online and am very concerned and anxiously awaiting your response and action on this problem. *tr

The hid headlights on my 2006 toyota prius (40k miles) go out whenever the car accelerates (braking, speeding up, turning, go over a speed bump). the lights turn back on if i flip the headlight switch on and off. this appears to be a widespread issue affecting thousands of toyota prius owners.

While driving at night one or both headlights will go off.by turning lights off then back on works for a very short time i con not believe toyota has not taken care of this very dangerous problem

2006 toyota prius, both high intensity display (hid) headlights fail intermittently, headlight on drivers side replaced at 35,000, same problem with intermittent failure at 55,000 miles. there is no warning when the headlights go out, this is dangerous when driving and oncoming cars cannot see headlights from the other direction. *tr

Hid lighting giving problems on 2006 prius. they will occasionally blink or go off entirely. less than 20k miles on the car. *tr

The headlights on my 2006 prius will turn off by themselves intermittently. they can be turned back on by turning them on and off. the issue started happening from about 30k miles, but when i took it to the dealer, they were working okay. this was about 2 years ago. it has continued to happen since then. *tr

Driver side hid headlight fails intermittedly. *tr

Several weeks ago, i noticed that the hi headlights on my 2006 toyota prius were intermittently cutting out while driving. both headlights have had this happen but not at the same time. turning the lights off and on again seems to correct the problem. problem happens occasionally (once or twice a week). vehicle at dealership now for diagnostic and headlight replacement. this has been reported to toyota. case number with them is 1001131933. *tr

2006 prius. within first 18 months of owning the car (i am original owner - took possession of car in march of 2006) experienced headlights going off by themselves. took the car in for service thinking headlight needed replacement. was told by service rep (at greentree toyota in danbury, ct) that it was not the headlight but a problem with connection that toyota recognized but was not sure how they would address. i waited for solution. as time goes on, more frequent incidence of headlight spontaneously turning off. i received a notice from toyota company approx. 4 months ago stating the problem was a defect/connection problem. my toyota dealership/service dept. told me it was not and refused to fix the connection problem. both headlights will go out at exactly the same time, leaving me in complete darkness. if i quickly switch the headlights off then back on again they will illuminate. the headlights going off at the same time happens at least once every 20 minutes. *tr

Faulty hid lightbulb about a year ago, i replaced the driver side hid lightbulb and now i have to replace the passenger side hid lightbulb. similar symptoms leading up to both replacements: the light sometimes works and sometimes does not. if i notice that the light is not working and switch the lights off and back on, sometimes the faulty light will work and other times it will not. the light never seems fully burned out as it works intermittently. at night, this can pose a safety issue. toyota has not been able to explain this issue and has only recommended replacing the lightbulb, which is quite expensive. *tr

Like many other prius owners, i began to experience headlamp problems after about 4 otherwise very satisfactory years of driving my 2006 prius. one of the lamps (the right so far) goes off irregularly during operation, and i can't tell when it has gone. this condition creates a safety hazard for other drivers because (1) in the dark a "one-eyed" car could be looming on either side of the one visible light, and (2) to reduce the risk (i think!) i routinely drive with brights on which blinds on-coming drivers. blogs on this subject make a fix sound too uncertain and expensive to entrust to a dealer or do myself. nhtsa should take another look.

Headlights turn of intermittently on both my daughters 2006 & 2007 toyota prius. mostly the right one sometimes both. if you turn the headlights off then back on the headlights come back on for a while then you have to do the same thing again. also i notice many other priuses that have the same problem. please look into this problem. thank you. *tr

2006 prius (45,000 miles) hid failure. both passenger and driver's side hid headlamp turn off after running car for about 10 minutes. dealer quotes extremely expensive to remedy problem, considering it is a major safety issue for night driving. *cn

Both hid headlights failed simultaneously on 2006 toyota prius with 43k miles while driving. headlights had been on for about 5 minutes at the time they shut off. i pulled off into a parking lot, stopped the car, got out to verify that both headlights were off, and verified that the headlight switch was on. i turned the headlight switch off and back on, and the headlights re-illuminated. driver's side headlight continues to fail randomly. it re-illuminates when the switch is turned off and back on again. prior to both headlights failing simultaneously, the headlights had not flickered, turned off, or given any other sign of failure. *tr

Hid head lamps turn off at random, one or the other, sometimes both at the same time. turn off the lights and turn them back on and they relight. *tr

I noticed that my right hid headlamp on my 2006 toyota prius was not working when i parked my car. i cycled the lights and the lamp came on, but it did appear to be dimmer than the left headlamp. i made an appointment for jan 2nd, 2010 at my local toyota dealership. note that i had the same problem with my left headlamp in feb of 2008. the dealership replaced the bulb under warranty, but indicated that the replacement would have cost $500+ if not for the warranty. i did not file a complaint with nhtsa on the first failure. *tr

I have a 2006 prius with the hid headlights and want to confirm that both bulbs have failed. the dealer agreed to replace them under warranty even though i have 47000 miles on the vehicle. i did complain about this a year ago and the dealer did nothing at that time. this problem is compounded by just today receiving a notice from toyota about an hid headlight support program that lowers the price of the bulbs to $150 per bulb. this is still outrageous. *tr

2006 toyota prius headlights go out randomly creating an unsafe condition when driving at night. the headlight(s) will come on after turning off the switch. this has been a recurring problem since the vehicle was one year old. in one instance, both headlights went out which required and emergency stop. both headlight have been previously replaced under warranty. the problem in now occurring most times the vehicle is operated at night. *tr

Every two years, the headlights of my 2006 toyota prius begin to fail and start to turn off, unexpectedly, while i'm driving. several times, i've driven long distances at night, completely unaware of the fact that they had shut off, and later they appear to be working fine. at 20,000 miles, i had both lights replaced by the dealership. less than two years later, the driver's side headlight stared to fail again. the dealership paid for the light, but charged me $120 for the labor. seven months later, the passenger side light began to fail. again, the dealership paid for the bulb but charged me for the labor. after the third repair, i called the toyota experience center. they said that their new customer support program would not cover reimbursing me for the labor. i'm concerned that now in addition to the risk, time and expense i've already incurred, that i will have to add "preventative headlight replacement" to my list of required maintenance of my vehicle, and it will cost me another $600 every 2 years to drive my vehicle safely at night. because the way the hid light fail does not give the driver any warning or notification. the lights both illuminate at start up, and only fail while you're driving. i appreciate toyota paying for some parts of the repairs, but i think they are failing to fully address this very dangerous situation, and have saddled their customers with an unreasonable expense. when you can replace a headlight by yourself every five years for a couple bucks, it's reasonable. when it costs $300 per headlight every two years, that's not reasonable. i filed a previous complaint after the 2nd time the lights failed in may 2009. this is the third incident with this car, and the 2nd time i'm filing a complaint here. *tr

Driver's side hid headlight occasionally goes out while driving. this started a month or two ago but i'm reporting yesterday's incident because i have just found out via internet forums that a significant number of other 2006 prius owners are also experiencing this problem. turning headlights off then on again fixes the problem. no problem so far with passenger side lamp which has obviously been used with the same frequency and duration. this has not caused an accident yet, but if this were to happen with both headlights it would be very dangerous. *tr

Both headlights were going off intermittently. this is the 2nd time in less than 13 months that both lights had to be replace at previously a cost of $500 each and now at a reduce cost of approximately $300 each. *tr

I have a 2006 toyota prius, while driving home the other night my headlights dimmed so low that i could not see while exiting on a ramp and drove so close to the edge i almost went over into the ditch. it was very close. i am now scared to drive my car at night not knowing if my lights will fail. *tr

Prius hid bulb failed before its estimated lifetime. these bulbs are very expensive (us$ 300.00) plus labor (us$ 200.00) and they failing over and over again. this item should have been recalled by toyota and replaced for free, since customers paid premium price up front for security benefits of the accessory in question. *tr

2006 toyota prius. first my passenger side headlight flickers and goes out. i get it fixed at the dealer and then the drivers side headlight does the same thing. about a year later and again my passenger side light is out (yes if i turn the light off and back on, it comes back on again, but only for a few minutes). then again sometimes it goes out completely. the car was under warranty the first two times... now it's not! yes i got the notice about the price change for the headlight.... but i think this is a defective equipment issue and has to be a safety issue! i know other owners have reported the same type problem! *tr

Driver side headlight intermittently goes out. *tr

I have a safety defect with the headlights on my 2006 prius. the headlight on the right hand side was working intermittently. took it in to the dealer. told me that yes, it was working intermittently and the left side needed replaced also since it would be going out soon. they replaced both headlights at the cost of $614.00. *tr

In addition to my complaint, odi id #10400072, when i turn my headlights on, the lighting in my console loses it brightness--alot. during the daytime, it is very difficult to see the odometer/speedometer and all other information provided on my console... this includes the built-in gps/info screen. this is definitely a design flaw that toyota created and approved for sale here in the u.s. i cannot understand why toyota is not held fully accountable for these very serious flaws and are required to correct these very serious flaws at no cost the the innocent consumer that are victims for purchasing these vehicles fully trusting that toyota fully backed up their vehicles and reputation. what will it take to require toyota to make the necessary repairs to rectify these very obvious flaws in their vehicles? a death as a result of an innocent driver and his family trusting the toyota brand name? i sure hope not.

The drivers side headlight keeps going out. when first turned on, it glows and after awhile it goes out. when i turn the lights out and back on, it glows again; but for only a very short time. it refuses to stay on when needed during inclement weather or night driving. this is very dangerous to say the least! it is only a matter of time before i am pulled over by police for this defect. i've seen this problem has been reported by many other 2006 prius owners and i feel it is my responsibility to report this malfunction/defect myself. toyota should be held fully responsible for this defect and should be required to fix this very dangerous safety-related defect. i hope you can help with in requiring toyota to recall these vehicles and fix this very dangerous and definitely safety-related situation/defect/malfunction. i hope we won't have to wait until some people are killed or injured as a result of this safety-related defect before appropriate action is taken to resolve it.

Hid headlight failure on 2006 toyota prius. purchased in june 2006 right headlight and control unit were replaced in june 2007 by toyota under warranty. right headlight and control unit failed in dec. 2009. now driving with right headlamp out. hid headlamps are supposed to have twice the lifetime of normal headlamps. headlamps should not cost $500 to replace. toyota has an obvious design problem with their headlight system. *tr

My 2006 toyota prius with high intensity lightbulbs has less than 40,000 miles on it. one bulb has already been replaced and now i am having intermittent failures on another bulb. i understand nhtsa has decided not to take any action under pe09019 but have to say i don't understand your stance on this. i can be cited by police for having defective safety equipment when a bulb is out, yet you felt this did not warrant action. this problem with prius hid headlights seems to be limited only to that vehicle model it is obviously a defect in design and it is a safety issue. ever meet a one-lighted car or truck on a very dark two lane highway? hope you will take action to force toyota to do a recall and correct this very dangerous issue. *tr

Passenger side head light goes out randomly. when the lights are turned off and then back on it will work for "some" period of time, could be seconds or days. car has been taken to the dealership multiple times for diagnostics and alleged repairs yet the problem continues. dealer has replaced bulbs & replaced some module within the circuitry. continues to fail. *tr

For a 2006 prius. twice this evening my headlights went out on their own. i was driving to a store about a mile and a half away, when a half mile from my house all lights, including headlights, went out. they did not come on until i manually turned them "off" and then on again. on the way home from the store, they went out again. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. the headlights fail while driving at night. he has to turn the headlamp switch on and then back off to resume headlight operation. it cost $1200 to replace the bulbs and the module. he has to take the vehicle to a local repair facility because the authorized dealer is located too far. the failure mileage was 35,000.

I own a 2006 toyota prius and the drivers side headlight will go on and off without warning. i took it into the dealer and it cost over $500.00 to replace the headlight. this a clear safety issue. headlights that go off without warning could lead to a very dangerous circumstance. headlights are items like windshield wipers that need frequent replacement and should not cost $500.00. *tr

Tl* the contact owns 2006 toyota prius. the contact stated was driving 30 mph when the headlights failed. the headlights would fail intermittently and the manufacturer advised that the bulb failure was random. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the light bulb was replaced. the failure mileage was 79,000 and the current mileage was 86,000.

I have a 2006 prius and the headlights keep going off. one or the other or both go off while driving. flipping the switch gets them back on for a while. the dealer tells me $420 to change the two bulbs. how can this happen in a two year old car? *tr

I have the same problem as many, many other prius owners, with my 2006 prius's hid lights going out while driving. when i realize that one or both lights have gone out, i flip the headlight switch and they come back on, only to go out again within seconds! toyota says this is a dealer-only item and the hid bulbs cost $300 a piece! these bulbs are not available at auto parts stores. the price is exorbitant and very unaffordable for many people. this is a serious safety issue! toyota should recall their priuses and fix this issue once and for all instead of ripping people off and putting their lives in danger! please help put some pressure on toyota to do the right thing. *tr

2006 prius headlights are intermittent, especially the driver's side. when you turn on the headlights they both go on, but the driver's side lights go out--at first others would tell us, then we would discover it ourselves. we reported this to the toyota dealership at about 35,000 miles and were told the bulbs cost about $300 apiece, that it wasn't covered under the warranty. we've since found out that other prius owners have experienced this same problem, that some have paid a high price to replace the lights and continue to have the same problem, which seems to indicate the problem isn't the bulbs! also there is controversy about the dealerships saying they have to remove the front bumper assembly to change the bulbs, when they can easily be replaced in about 10 minutes without removing the bumper! this headlight problem constitutes a very dangerous condition for which is seems bulb replacement isn't the answer. toyota needs to admit there is a manufacturing problem for which they should supply the remedy. there should be an indicator light on the instrument panel that indicates if either headlight fails to operate. *tr

2007 toyota prius with hid headlights that intermittently go off. this is a problem with many prius with the hid headlights. we had one replaced on 11/28 at a cost of $240.00. the other has problems also but we could not afford to get it replaced at this time. toyota repair says light system overheats, maybe. they aren't sure. *tr

Approx. 50,000 miles on odometer. 2006 toyota prius. right headlamp go of and an. finally died. *tr

Hid bulb flickering, works on and off all the time on my 2006 toyota prius toyota dealer asks about 400 dollars to replace one bulb. *tr

The hid headlight on the passenger side of my 2006 toyota prius randomly goes off. some times it comes back on by itself while i'm still driving some times not. it doesn't happen by any particular trend like a bump, turn, or anything else. it just goes off. nothing i do seems to make it come back on, it just comes back randomly. it's been doing this for a while now. when it goes off my visibility at night along the roads righthand side is greatly reduced. in particular, i'm concerned that the reduced light on that side may increase my chance of not seeing a pedestrian or a deer along side the road until it's too late. i took it to the toyota dealer and they said they don't know what's wrong but they would likely replace some headlight computer and bulb which they said would cost about $800! it shouldn't cost that much to fix a headlight that randomly goes off due to some defect in the vehicle which causes such a safety hazard for me and pedestrians on the road. *tr

2006 prius high-intensity discharge (hid) lamps cut out - turning the lights off and on will temporarily fix the problem. first passenger side in september 2008 at around 50k miles, now driver side november 2009 at 60812 miles - vehicle is at dealership right now so i do not have access to the vin. both times the dealer replaced at no charge (lawrenceville toyota, 2871 rt 1, lawrenceville, new jersey 08648 609-883-4200). i just wanted it reported because it seemed a safety hazard and there appears to be others experiencing this issue as well. *tr

The headlights on my 06 prius have started going off at different times. i really have to be careful with my car now. *tr

This is a follow up to nhtsa case # pe09019. the nhtsa closed this case as a non-safety, non-recall case, because only one headlight was failing, giving the driver time to get to a service center. however, the problem is degenerative...though no cases of dual-headlight failure had been seen by the nhtsa at the time, in the past few months there have been several cases reported on prius owner websites. all are cases that began with one intermittent light and progressed to both. i would like my case recorded by the nhtsa and included in any future class-action suit that i may be eligible for. i have a 2006 toyota prius with hid headlights. they began to fail intermittently in 2009, when my car had app. 35,000 miles logged. i never received notice of the open nhtsa case, or of the class action suit that toyota settled by extending warranties and/or reimbursing repairs. i got 1 warning ticket for which i attempted to get them fixed, but this time and other times i went for service the problem was not evident (no loose wires, bulbs worked fine, etc.) and i was told that there was nothing to fix. last week both of my headlights failed simultaneously, as did the parking lights and high beams while driving on the freeway at night. fortunately i didn't have an accident, and i quickly toggled the control stick to reset the lights, and thought i'd recovered dim headlights and drove home, where i discovered that i had driven over 200 miles with only my parking lights on. the next day, the left headlight bulb worked again, the parking lights work, but the high beams still will not turn on. i have an appointment to have the bulbs changed (the only recommended procedure quoted to me by toyota service). however, i've read reports online of others who did this fix and even more, yet had the headlights fail again sometime later. *tr

2006 toyota prius headlight problem. while driving at night there was an obvious click and the headlights shut off. turned the car off and restarted it and the headlights come back on and work for a period of time (length undetermined but this happened on more than one occasion). one or another of the head lights work intermittently.with no obvious pattern. last night the left head light was out. i backed up the vehicle and it came back on. the same thing has happened with the right head light on occasion. there appears to be no identifiable pattern to the issue. since this is a safety issue and my web search has indicated others are experiencing the same issue it would seem to be an item of interest that should be corrected by toyota via a recall. the seriousness of the issue cannot be understated. driving down the highway and having the lights go totally out for no identifiable reason is dangerous. i called the toyota dealer and they said the head lights need to be replaced. it seems impossible for me to believe that this is the issue as the dash panel light also went out. .this is not going to be corrected one customer at a time dealing with toyota. replacing the head lights on the prius is a $ 450 job. $300 for the bulbs and $150 labor. i would not be concerned about the $'s if i firmly believed it was a high light issue. i was driving the vehicle and heard the click and the lights go out. i pulled of the interstate. turned the power off and restarted the car and the headlights worked for the remainder of the trip (about 45 minutes) with no issues. this does not sound like a head light problem. *tr

I recently both a used 2006 toyota prius from a private seller and in more than one occasion, the headlights would go out intermittently while i'm driving - sometimes one at a time, but sometimes both would go out. i had to cycle the switch to turn them back on. out of curiosity, i went in the internet to find out how i can fix this problem, and that's when i found out that there had been numerous cases of prius headlight problems, particularly with 2005-2008 models. i also found out that toyota dealerships are charging on average anywhere from $400 to $1,000 just to replace headlight bulbs, and i'm not about to fall for that. i don't believe this is a lightbulb problem because the headlights would come back on after cycling the switch. this appears to be a design problem common to '05-'08 models - something with the electrical system. this is definitely a safety issue that needs to be addressed and resolved by toyota asap. i'm surprised that no recall has been issued yet. is toyota waiting for someone to die or get badly injured before they send out a recall? one can easily drive off a cliff while driving in the dark with no headlights on. (fyi, the incident date i have below is the most recent occurrence of this problem.) *tr

Both headlights on my 2006 toyota prius shut off while i was driving at night. *tr